WhatsApp is the most used messaging application at the moment, with over 2 billion people using it monthly globally to communicate through text messages, pictures, or video clips. The problem is that WhatsApp is used to distribute false information, or worse, information with content that allows the hacking of mobile phones, or other accounts on social networks, or various other websites on the Internet.
WhatsApp has found a solution for this problem by limiting the number of redistributions that can be made for messages received on the platform, so that any message can be re-sent a maximum of 5 times to other people. According to a recent study, this modification of the message redistribution functionality has greatly reduced the distribution of fake messages through the WhatsApp platform, or at least that's what MIT says.
The BIG Change of WhatsApp that CHANGED the WHOLE World
WhatsApp recorded a dramatic decrease in the "virality" of messages re-sent through its platform, so that 80% of them lost their "power" of redistribution in just two days after they were created. 20% "survived" beyond the two days, but even so, we are talking about a huge change for a very big problem registered by WhatsApp, one of which the platform had to be closed in several countries.
"Under the new limit, 80% of messages died within two days, but 20% were still highly viral and reached the full network in that time."
WhatsApp needed a lot of time for this solution to be applied as it should be, as it was gradually activated on iPhone and Android phones, but in the end it started to produce its effects as it should. Based on these changes, the people at WhatsApp get to eliminate a lot of the false information that has fooled a lot of people in recent years, and not to support the distribution of viruses for computers and phones.
WhatsApp continues to implement measures of this kind to protect its users, but also the platform, so it will be very interesting to see how things will evolve in the coming years.